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The Silent Thaw/Cliffnotes
*Bramblestar stares at his corpse, wondering when he will return to it. He sees his Clanmates declare him dead, and begins to panic. *A spirit then possesses Bramblestar's corpse, and ThunderClan is overjoyed at the return of their leader. *Bramblestar goes to try and find Tree, as he knows the tom can see ghosts. *Frightened by Bramblestar's ghost, Rootpaw runs back to SkyClan, encountering Dewspring who is leading a patrol. Rootpaw realizes he must be seeing things and joins the patrol. *The SkyClan patrol runs into a ThunderClan one, where the warriors talk about the coming newleaf and the hopeful thaw of the Moonpool. *Dewspring mentions Rootpaw's jumpy attitude recently, and Lionblaze comments that the scent of newleaf makes young cats crazy. *Several ThunderClan cats have noticed that "Bramblestar" is acting strangely. The camp seems new to him, he insists upon keeping Squirrelflight near him and is constantly critical of the way things are done. Bristlefrost defends her leader from the hostility of Stemleaf and Spotfur. *The impostor calls Dewnose "Dewtail". After Dewnose corrects him, the impostor snaps at him and Squirrelflight assumes that her mate must be tired. Bristlefrost aims to be a loyal warrior to him and ThunderClan. *Wanting to help, Bristlefrost asks her leader what she can do. The impostor decides to make Bristlefrost organize the patrols from now on, though Squirrelflight disagrees. *The medicine cats meet at the Moonpool, and Puddleshine gives Shadowpaw his full name of Shadowsight. *Shadowsight promises his fellow medicine cats that he'll do his best. *Rootpaw is at a Gathering, and keeps seeing Bramblestar's ghost lingering beneath the great oak. *Bramblestar's impostor names Flipclaw and Thriftear as new warriors, and Baypaw and Myrtlepaw as new apprentices. *Rootpaw becomes uneasy as Bramblestar's ghost keeps looking at him, and Bramblestar's ghost attention keeps diverting from Rootpaw to his possessed body. Kestrelflight announces that the Moonpool has thawed, but they still have no word from StarClan. *The Clans ask about the Codebreakers, and Crowfeather asks if StarClan wants them to start throwing accusations around, to which the impostor labels Crowfeather as a codebreaker in denial. *Bramblestar's ghost runs toward Rootpaw, which causes Rootpaw to fall in the lake, and gets him reprimanded by Dewspring. *Bristlefrost is leading a hunting patrol with Thriftear, Dewnose, Rosepetal, and Lionblaze. She convinces them to thank StarClan out loud for their prey, citing it as the little things that count. *The patrol returns to camp. Squirrelflight goes to greet them, but she is held back by Bramblestar, asking her to stay close to him. *The impostor is glad that Bristlefrost is taking the code so seriously, and asks her to become his eyes and ears in the Clan. Overjoyed, Bristlefrost agrees and is happy her leader trusts her. *Shadowsight and Puddleshine are talking about Bramblestar's revival. Snowbird enters the den with Lightleap and Flaxfoot, explaining she broke her leg. *Tigerstar comes and talks to Shadowsight, he says that they don't want to anger StarClan, but he doesn't want to out Dovewing as a codebreaker. Shadowsight says he just wants the codebreakers to acknowledge what they've done. *Some time later, Dovewing, Scorchfur, Stonewing, and Antfur are injured by a falling branch. Antfur is knocked out. *Scorchfur tells Tigerstar that there wasn't any reason for the branch to have fallen. Shadowsight thinks it was StarClan trying to punish them. *Rootpaw is disturbed after continually seeing Bramblestar's ghost. He decides to help out Fidgetflake after Dewspring sprains his paw. Rootpaw asks Fidgetflake about dead cats, to which Fidgetflake says it's impossible to see the ghost of a cat that's alive. Fidgetflake also says that if a cat is dead, they should honor them by loving them and honoring their memory, and they have a message to pass on, they must do that. *Tree comes and takes Rootpaw away, saying they're going hunting. When they're alone, he says they should consider leaving the Clans. Rootpaw is appalled by his father's desire to leave the Clans. *Bramblestar's ghost appears, and Tree is unable to see the spirit. Tree goes on, displeased with the codebreaker nonsense from Bramblestar, while Bramblestar's ghost is uneasy. *Tree leaves, and Bramblestar asks Rootpaw for his help. Rootpaw tells Bramblestar to go to StarClan already, but Bramblestar objects that he hasn't seen a single StarClan cat since his death. He asks Rootpaw to pass on a message to Squirrelflight instead. *Bristlefrost has organized the dawn patrols, but Squirrelflight, annoyed that she isn't able to do her duties, does the daylight patrols. Cloudtail, Lionblaze, Finleap, and Jayfeather are talking about the strange change in Bramblestar's actions and personality. **Bramblestar comes out of his den, and demands that some other cat organize the patrols, and cites that Squirrelflight needs to support him as the leader and as his mate. Squirrelflight objects that it's her job as deputy to organize patrols. Bramblestar rebukes this and says she is no longer allowed to leave camp, much to her displeasure. **A hunting patrol returns with prey. Bramblestar announces that while the code says elders eat first, the code says nothing about leaders, and declares that he and Squirrelflight will eat first from then on. Squirrelflight disagrees, but does not do anything. Blossomfall and Lionblaze object to Bramblestar, and Thornclaw is stunned. Bramblestar tells Lionblaze that it is breaking the code to defy him, and goes off with his prey. *Squirrelflight reluctantly follows him. Bristlefrost decides she needs help from Squirrelflight, and eavesdrops on their conversation. Squirrelflight is berating Bramblestar for being selfish. Bristlefrost decides to try and figure it out on her own. *Later on, Bristlefrost is on a patrol with Lionblaze and Spotfur. Lionblaze catches a rabbit on the WindClan border. Bristlefrost calls her grandfather out for breaking the code, but Lionblaze is indifferent about it. When they get back to camp, Bristlefrost informs Bramblestar of the incident. **Bramblestar comes out, and berates Spotfur and Lionblaze. He punishes Spotfur by making no cat talk to her for a quarter moon, and banishes Lionblaze as a rogue for the same duration. While Cinderheart objects, Lionblaze begrudgingly leaves. Bristlefrost feels guilty that she got them punished. She later runs into Spotfur and Stemleaf, who tell her that at some point, they all need to choose sides. *Shadowsight continues to care for Antfur, who is still recovering from his head injury. He believes he is a guardian cat back in the city. Though Antfur manages to overcome it, he is still dizzy. He insists to Puddleshine, Shadowsight, and Tigerstar that he is fit enough to go on patrol. *Later on, the patrol returns with Antfur's corpse, and Blazefire explains that he chased a squirrel up a tree, got dizzy, and then fell down. **Shadowsight feels guilty over the death of his friend, and decides to tell the other medicine cats about his visions. *Rootpaw is training with Dewspring, though the apprentice continues to get distracted, and Dewspring remarks that it's like training a kit. Leafstar comes and reprimands Rootpaw for not focusing. *Rootpaw goes to see Tree, and confesses to him that he sees Bramblestar's ghost. Tree believes his son, but notions that they need to be cautious about it. Tree deduces that the ghost is likely related to the change in Bramblestar and the codebreakers. Bramblestar's ghost appears and says that the young apprentice must sneak into ThunderClan's camp. Tree allows them to go. *Rootpaw gets distracted from Bramblestar's directions, and runs into a border patrol consisting of Bristlefrost, Finleap, and Molewhisker. They decide to bring him to Bramblestar. *Bristlefrost wonders why Rootpaw came onto the territory, to which Molewhisker argues that it was probably to see her since everyone knows he has a crush on her. Rootpaw is frightened. *Bramblestar begins to interrogate Rootpaw, and Rootpaw lies that he scented rogues on their territory, asking Bramblestar if he remembered the Sisters. Bramblestar does not recognize the group. *Molewhisker tells him that it was likely to see Bristlefrost. Bristlefrost rebukes that it's Rootpaw's crush, not hers. Rootpaw lies that he just wanted to say hi to Bristlefrost. Infuriated, Bramblestar sends a patrol to SkyClan so they can retrieve their apprentice. *Bristlefrost is ordered to guard Rootpaw, where Rootpaw confesses that she needs to pass a message to Squirrelflight, and he needed to feign being scared so as to not arouse suspicion. He tells her that her leader is an impostor, but Bristlefrost refuses to believe him. *Dewspring and Plumwillow come to retrieve Rootpaw. *Bristlefrost passes on Rootpaw's message to Squirrelflight, but Squirrelflight does not believe it. *It has been three days since Antfur's death, and the injured cats are healing, but Shadowsight notes that Snowbird will always have a permanent limp. *The medicine cats go to the half-moon meeting, and Shadowsight informs them of his vision. Puddleshine is angry that he never told him. Mothwing and Jayfeather are infuriated that they are named despite helping their Clan their entire life. Frecklewish, Alderheart, Willowshine, and Kestrelflight attempt to remain neutral. *The other medicine cats begin to accuse Shadowsight of hiding it, but Puddleshine defends his apprentice. Jayfeather is angry that he is being punished for being half-WindClan. Kestrelflight asks why Dovewing is named and not Tigerstar. Jayfeather asks why no SkyClan cat has been named. *Back in the ShadowClan camp, Shadowsight tells his parents of the codebreaker vision. Dovewing is angry and confused that she is named and not Tigerstar, but Tigerstar demands to know if Alderheart or Jayfeather plan to inform Bramblestar. *Tigerstar wants to know why Shadowsight received the named cats he did, and not previous codebreakers. *Bramblestar's ghost won't stop following Rootpaw around, citing that he's the only one that can help him. Leafstar and Dewspring have become distrustful of Rootpaw. *At a Clan meeting, Frecklewish informs the Clan of Shadowsight's codebreakers. The Clan takes note that no SkyClan cats had not been named. *Bramblestar says to Rootpaw that the spirit that gave Shadowsight the vision sounds like his impostor. Tree says that Bramblestar has been using StarClan to accuse any cat who speaks out against him *Rootpaw says maybe StarClan will allow Bramblestar back into his body when the codebreakers are outed, but Bramblestar asks if he believes StarClan let an impostor take over his body on purpose. *Later, Bramblestar's impostor calls an emergency gathering. Bramblestar's ghost is watching from the edge of the clearing. Bramblestar names all the codebreakers and says they must be punished, asking the other four leaders for ideas. Tigerstar says that Bramblestar has been using StarClan's silence as a way to divide the Clans. *Tree says quietly to Rootpaw that the impostor is trying to turn the Clans into a bunch of vengeful rogues. *Tigerstar says Bramblestar has no right to punish cats from another Clan. Bramblestar points out that Tigerstar's mate is a codebreaker, but Tigerstar retorts that his mate is one too. Bramblestar says he'll deal with Squirrelflight himself, but he will make Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Twigbranch atone harshly. *Bramblestar's ghost demands Rootpaw do something, which Rootpaw yells at him to shut up in the middle of Bramblestar's speech. Bramblestar's impostor, angry, asks him to repeat what he just said. Mistystar intervenes and said it's something they should discuss. Bramblestar claims he is the only one doing as StarClan wishes, to which Harestar points out he can't bully every cat into agreeing with his demands. *Squirrelflight demands to know from Rootpaw the message he claimed to have. Rootpaw tells her of the moment she shared with Bramblestar after the death of Leafpool. Squirrelflight realizes Rootpaw is telling the truth. *Stemleaf and Spotfur invite Rootpaw to a secret meeting they plan to hold between the Clans. *Squirrelflight takes Bristlefrost aside and tells her great-grandniece that their leader is not the real Bramblestar. Bristlefrost doesn't believe Squirrelflight. *Bramblestar's impostor approaches Bristlefrost if she knows all cats are pulling their weight. Bristlefrost tells him that Sparkpelt left her hunting patrol without reason. Bramblestar calls for his daughter, and berates her. Sparkpelt explains that she was looking for Lionblaze, who had not returned after the quarter moon. Bramblestar reprimands her for looking for her cousin, citing that his word is law, and sends her to the abandoned Twoleg den to look for catmint. *Lionblaze returns, and says he's ready to be loyal. When told that he's a listed codebreaker, he becomes angry that he's being punished for being born. Squirrelflight sadly acknowledges that he and Jayfeather are likely paying for her mistake years ago. *Bramblestar makes Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Twigbranch swear an oath of loyalty to him, with the threat of exile if they break the code again. However, he refuses to let Squirrelflight take the oath, much to her surprise. *Sparkpelt returns with wounds, revealing that there were dogs at the Twoleg den. While Jayfeather, Alderheart, and Squirrelflight fret over Sparkpelt, Bristlefrost sees Bramblestar staring at her coldly. Bristlefrost goes to the den herself and discovers it was laid with prey blood as a trap, realizing it was an attempt on Sparkpelt's life. *Pouncestep falls out of a tree, breaking a rib. Shadowsight worries over his sister. *Puddleshine asks if Shadowsight has had anymore visions, Shadowsight says no. *Puddleshine asks if he's sure he hasn't misinterpreted StarClan. *Seeking to find clarity, Shadowsight visits the Moonpool and feels an ominous presence there. He comes to the realization that his visions were not from StarClan. *Rootpaw is sneaking off to the secret meeting, but is caught by Tree. The two decide to go together, and discover that Frecklewish was also invited. *Several cats between the Clans attend. Slightfoot, Whorlpelt, and Sneezecloud cite that they protect their Clanmates because they care about them, not out of duty to the code. Cloverfoot, ShadowClan's deputy, is outraged that exile is Bramblestar's go-to punishment. *Tree lies to the group and says he can see Bramblestar's ghost, much to the relief of Rootpaw. *Cats ask ShadowClan if they believe Shadowsight is in on the plot, but Cloverfoot defends him. *Bristlefrost arrives, which causes the cats to scatter. *Bristlefrost tells them that she only wants to help, and realizes that her leader is not who he says he is. The cats agree that Bramblestar needs to be outed, and the ghost of Bramblestar returned to his body. *Back at ThunderClan, Squirrelflight tells the impostor that she is going to atone by herself. He tries to prevent her, but reluctantly allows her to go. Bristlefrost realizes that she is going to tell the other leaders of Bramblestar's impostor. *Shadowsight is informed that Dovewing left ShadowClan to atone for codebreaking. Tigerstar and Shadowsight leave to go find her. *They manage to convince Dovewing to return to ShadowClan. *Frecklewish is insisting on talking to Shadowsight, but Tigerstar is cautious as to the SkyClan medicine cat's intentions. *Bramblestar starts off and asks what the punishment for codebreakers will be. Emberfoot and Hootwhisker call for exile, much to the chagrin of Crowfeather who says he won't be going anywhere until he hears from StarClan. *Shadowsight says that he may have misinterpreted the vision, but Bramblestar says he's young and just doubting himself. Shadowsight says he doesn't think it came from StarClan. *Bramblestar's ghost watches from the clearing, worried. *Bramblestar's impostor says that if Tigerstar won't let Dovewing atone, then perhaps Cloverfoot should take over, but Cloverfoot says she stands by Tigerstar. Tree says Bramblestar being a leader doesn't give him any right to dictate what power goes where and where cats put their paws. *Bramblestar's impostor says StarClan wants the codebreakers to atone, but Tree says he thought Bramblestar was the one who wanted them to atone, which the impostor says that he speaks for StarClan, and since Tree is objecting to him, he's clearly a codebreaker. *Many cats agree that Tree questions their traditions, and Bramblestar says that Tree must go into exile for three days to atone. Leafstar steps forward, claiming Bramblestar has no right as to tell her warriors what to do. Tree however agrees. *Squirrelflight has returned to ThunderClan. Bramblestar's impostor repeatedly asks where she went, and Squirrelflight lies that she went to the horseplace. However, the impostor calls her a liar and weak, dragging her out of his den and announcing to ThunderClan that she is a codebreaker, and doesn't deserve a place in ThunderClan anymore, revealing that he sent Bumblestripe to follow her and found out she went to inform the other Clans. *Thornclaw and Graystripe say she cannot be exiled. However, some cats in ThunderClan desire to see her exiled. *Squirrelflight says she'll leave, but ThunderClan must know that in their hearts, that their current leader acts nothing like her mate, and that he is an impostor of the true Bramblestar. Enraged, the impostor orders a patrol to escort her off Clan territory. *While escorting Squirrelflight, Lionblaze murmurs to Twigbranch that if Bramblestar is willing to exile his own mate and deputy, then no cat is safe. *Tree and Rootpaw come to speak to Tigerstar, asking about Squirrelflight's message. However, Squirrelflight was unable to go to Tigerstar, resulting in him kicking father and son out of the camp. *Shadowsight follows them and inquires about the ghost of Bramblestar, which Rootpaw makes appear. *Shadowsight says he'll vouch for them so Tigerstar can hear them out. *Squirrelflight has gone to ShadowClan, informing a flabbergasted Tigerstar that she has been exiled. *Shadowsight says that he thinks the impostor appealed to his own inexperience so he could steal Bramblestar's body. *Tigerstar agrees to hear out Tree and Rootpaw. Rootpaw makes the spirit appear under the guise of Tree doing it. Bramblestar's ghost pleads with ShadowClan not to blame Shadowsight, and that his impostor must be outed before he harms more cats. *Tigerstar, convinced, allows Squirrelflight to stay in ShadowClan and rallies his Clan against the impostor. *Tree and Dovewing decide to carry on their atonement so as to not raise suspicion. *The impostor has chosen Berrynose to succeed Squirrelflight as deputy, which displeases several ThunderClan cats and even the impostor as Berrynose endlessly tries to please him, and Berrynose bullies the ThunderClan cats. *Bristlefrost speaks with the impostor. He says his new rule is to make patrols walk in a single file line, and says he values Bristlefrost as a confidant more than ever. He then dispatches Bristlefrost to track Squirrelflight, saying he wants to make sure she's left Clan territory, but looks distracted and anxious, making Bristlefrost suspect he's actually worried about Squirrelflight. *Bristlefrost goes to SkyClan to talk to Rootpaw about what the impostor is doing. Rootpaw reveals Squirrelflight is in ShadowClan. *Bristlefrost goes to ShadowClan and Squirrelflight urges her to make sure the impostor doesn't find out where she is. *When Bristlefrost returns, she lies that she found Squirreflight passing through the Twolegplace, and the impostor seemingly believes her. *Bristlefrost worries she's not safe in ThunderClan anymore. *Shadowsight, Puddleshine, Rootpaw and Tree decide to head to the Moonpool. *Tigerstar and Dovewing don't want Shadowsight to go, believing he will be in danger, but reluctantly allow him to go. *On the way, they hear yowls and the catch scent of blood and catmint, and Shadowsight goes to investigate on his own. *An unnamed tomcat then attacks Shadowsight, overpowering him and stabbing his claws into his neck, and Shadowsight's vision fades away. Category:The Broken Code arc Category:Cliffnotes Category:The Silent Thaw